Manama, Mar 01: The annual Arab summit will take place in Cairo today and be devoted to the Iraqi crisis, the official Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Bahrain's King Hamad Bin Issa Al-Khalifa set the date during a telephone call last night, BNA said.
"It was agreed during the talks that Bahrain will call the 15th ordinary Arab summit and chair it on march 1 at the headquarters of the Arab League in Egypt," the agency said. "A meeting of Arab foreign ministers will take place before in order to prepare for the summit which will examine developments in the Iraqi crisis."
Manama had originally been selected as the venue for the summit but stood aside in favour of Egypt, which hosts the 22-member Arab League, as the Iraqi crisis escalated. Egypt tried to organise an extraordinary summit for the end of February but foreign ministers last weekend failed to agree on a date and the initiative was abandoned as deep differences emerged over how to tackle us threats to oust the Baghdad regime.
Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said in remarks published yesterday: "There is no need to hold an emergency summit after the extraordinary meeting of Arab foreign ministers.
"Holding a summit without first issuing a resolution on the Iraq crisis agreed unanimously by Arab countries may worsen the situation," he said. Bureau Report